EAST Lansing, Mich. – The Michigan State women’s tennis team was able to play its first match of the season at the MSU Outdoor Courts on Saturday, but No. 39 Northwestern wound up winning a 4-0 contest over the Spartans on a warm and sunny afternoon in East Lansing, Mich.
MSU moved to 9-12 on the season with the loss, falling to 1-9 in the Big Ten on the penultimate day of the regular season. For the Wildcats, they improved to 13-7 overall and 8-2 in the conference after Saturday, with one match remaining on Sunday against Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Doubles action saw the No. 2 court end first, as Briana Crowley and Christina Hand quickly took a lead over sophomore Ayshe Can and freshman Charlotte Gisclon that helped them eventually capture a 6-1 win over the Spartan pairing.
Northwestern then closed out doubles play with a 6-2 victory by Hannah McColgan and Sydney Pratt against the No. 3 MSU duo of senior Nicole Stephens and junior Tia Mukherjee, leaving the top court unfinished with senior Maja Pietrowicz and graduate student Mary Lewis holding a 4-3 lead over Clarissa Hand and Maria Shusharina.
The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead when No. 4 singles player Ema Lazic defeated Stephens via a 6-2, 6-0 score.
Shusharina and Justine Leong were the two to clinch the 4-0 match for Northwestern, as Shusharina met Pietrowicz on the second singles court while Leong had a showdown with Spartan senior Lauren Lemonds in the No. 5 match. Pietrowicz took an early 2-1 edge in the first set, but Shusharina would go on a five-point run that helped propel the Wildcat to…
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